Scuff plate for furniture



y 22, 1952 I c. P ETTIBONE 2,603,909

SCUFF PLATE FOR FURNITURE Filed April 11, 1949 -r/ III xii III??? fil fi 7 WI #1 ,02451 a, I, i .5 z/ zui ggg$zz. 1005,, 4 j

i O/AHFS 1 77 0 A 7 roe/VH5 *clealrofthe feet'aftermountings.

Fig. is a section taken on 55 of Fig. 2 with the scuff plate assembled with the basefoot of a chair; and, v

Fig. 6 shows how the holes may closer together than the spacing of the'pins, the difference being exaggerated in the figure-for purposes of illustration.

As seen in Fig. 1, which illustrates a; preferred e bored application of the invention, the chair C hasa plurality of legs H) which have applied 'to their extremities or basefeet scuff plates P. Each has ai f'elongated, gracefully-rounded exn'd is preferably mold'e'd' from a plastic which is wear-resistant without being brit'tl nd which 'is' i somewhat resilient or'iflexibl an *yetf tends to'i' retain its shape: against '-'6rdlhary usage in service. Although there are materials thatm'eet' these requirements, I "havefound thatpIa'stic material formed of cellu- '-lo"seacetate butyratepiwhicn 'is' commercially "available tothe trade, gives highly satisfactory results. 1 i PR;

seen'i'n thedrawings, scufi plate P is preferably. hollo'wed out at its jundersurface as at H orderto save materialgl-Iowever, due to'the iinclusionhf longitudinal ribs l2 and lateral ribs 1L3 formed in 'the'moldin process, the plate has -amplerigidityand will not scuff or be kicked An important feature of :the plate I resides in .i-sthe'two pins l4 extendingfrom the under's urface thereof, formedi integrally in the molding opera- ;tiongand-relied; upon to attach the ,plate' to its base-surfaee. Preferably a blind bore I5 ismolded in the pins toreceive. anexcess of adhesive, rand ne or more axial grooves 16 are formed. on the exterior of -the pins vto,actras air and adhesiveescapevents- ,j

As best seen in 5,, the wooden base member l0,. (a.. chair basefoot) has bored therein a pair -bf hbles 1 -1.1, and preferably the holes arenot in exact alignment with the pins 14., o For example, 1.1 have, {found that by employing a multipledrill wherein the bits are approximatelyten thoul's'andthsof an inch'closer together than the pins j l lQsatisfactory results are obtained. "The surfac'e s of wooden furniture in productionare isfanded on. large sanding machinesgenerally beheld'against a moving abrasive by hand. ,Thenatur'e of the machines and of the operation j s suchfthat' perfectly flat surfaces 'on legs such as ency being'to produce surfaces that'are slightly f By spacingbores l8as described, a press I btained with' the-p ins Hi, the action being no std tend to sprin'g 'the plate P slightly so [that ts .undersurfa'ce is somewhat convex. Of i gourse he walls of the bores'in the basefeet may give'i omewhat and the pins I4 may be canted slightly,'but the deformation of the plate body and the pins is such that it is imperceptible. 7 However, the plate does tend to conform to a slightly convex surface, and in addition pressure *of the bore side walls against the pins tends to firmly 'r'etainthe plate in position. Of course,- before assembling the. plate with.

T0 5 are difiicult to obtain the tend adhesive has avery large? area .outer surfaces of the pins so that a very firm union is provided.

To augment the strength of the joint, I prefer to use a quick-setting adhesive and in accordancewith one aspect'of the invention I contemplateemployme'nt of an adhesive that contains avsolvent for the plastic material of the plate.

'Forfexample, an adhesive wherein the bonding agentisdissolved in acetone will soften or slightly dissolve'minute portions of the surface of the pins whereupon when the adhesive sets the enj'tire" structure becomes in effect a one-piece 'as- Sammy. Due "to'fthei relation of 'theholes' and base-1D tothe? pinsjno clamps, pressessnor weights need be'placedupon'the plate whilethe.

Ih'avefound in actua aa'm that the-cost of fitting'the chair with four plates (as shownin Fig-"1 ina'ccordance with the principles or this invention ha been greatly-reduced. In fact, the entire set of plates'can be 'fitted'to a'chair in less than the length of :timeai't took to "applynand finish one plate wherein-brads were utilized a's 'the holding 'means' so strongman the plate will break 'beforexthe The joint with the wood is pins c'an 'b'e extracted. However, the' plastic material'is tough enough 'so'lthatit willnot break in ordinary 's ervice.' 1 Yetgthe material may flex Slightly "tO conform t0 S 1ight' irregularities the :ba sej So long as the multiple drills are properly adjusted and aligned with the table of the ma- -'chine in'order that the bores" l8 are positioned properly, there can' beno' r'n'isplacement or as- :"sembly of the p'lates inj a misaligned'condition, and also since the"'=plates can be palm-pushed into place there is no danger of-i'narrin'g br break- 'agel'ther'eof. This reduces" the 'skill' and; judgment requiredon the part of the workman respon'sible forthe assembly, and insures that'a perfectly-aligned, umn'arred product will be produced. I r

.Having completed a" detailed description of a preferred form of the 'mvention,'it will'be "ap parent thatv various modifications thereof may be made without departing :from the essence of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

: What is claimed is:.

l. A scuff. plate for attachment .to a furniture element having spaced bores extending froman.

exposed surface, comprising an elongated plate ofplastic material and a .plurality of axiallyvspaced integral pins extending from th underv surface; of the plate for insertionin the bores in the furniture element, saidpins ,being counterbored to receive adhesive material disposedin the bores in said furniture element, and displaced'by said pins. 1 l V 2'. A scuff plate for attachment to a furniture element having spaced bores extending from an exposed surface, comprising an elongated plate of plastic material and a plurality of axiallyspaced integral pins extending from the under- :surface. of the plate for insertion in the bores in l the. furniture element, said pins being externally groovedto vent airand excess adhesive from the bores and .eounterboredfto receive adhesive ma- 5 terial disposed in the bores in said furniture element and displaced by said pins.

3. A scuff plate for attachment to a furniture element having spaced bores extending from an exposed surface, comprising an elongated plate of plastic material and a plurality of axiallyspaced integral pins extending from the undersurface of the plate for insertion in the bores in the furniture element, the underside of said plate being hollow and including reinforcing ribs, said pins being counterbored to receive adhesive material disposed in the bores in said furniture element and displaced by said pins.

4. In'combination in a chair having legs with generally horizontal feet portions, a pair of spaced bores extending downwardly from the upper surface of each foot portion, scuff plates of molded plastic material having pins extending from their undersurface and pressed into said bores, the axes of each pair of bores being slightly offset from those of the associated pins and arranged to cause the plate to buckle slightly outspaced bores extending downwardly from the upper surface of each foot portion, scuff plates of molded plastic material having pins extending from their undersurface and pressed into said bores, the axes of each pair of bores being slightly offset from those of the associated pins and arranged to cause the plate to buckle slightly outwardly and be firmly retained in place, and adhesive in said bores containing a solvent for said plastic bonded to said pins and feet.

CHARLES L. PETTIBONE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 'file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

